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Quick recipes

30/10/2013

It has been a long, long time since I last posted on the Shizzling blog. The reason is that my Facebook page became very busy and I ended up posting to there by default and forgetting to update the blog.

Despite this, the visitor numbers to this blog have steadily risen, which makes me think there is a demand for the recipes and other related stuff that I used to post.

I've resolved to make an effort and start posting again, perhaps with crosslinks to the Facebook group for people who want to have a conversation.

To get the ball rolling, here's a post from the Shizzling Facebook page that includes a quick and easy recipe for Lavash - a flatbread that accompanies many meals in Turkey.

25/11/2011

Hummus is very commonplace in the UK these days, with supermarkets selling many different variants. This home made version, based on an authentic recipe from my friend Burcak at My Food Chronicles, makes a huge amount for the same cost as a small tub from the supermarket - and I think it tastes better.

There are variations of Cacik that use ingredients such as cucumber or lettuce. This recipe uses spinach and I chose it because it's one of my favourite meze dishes from my times working in Istanbul. It's generally served as a meze - one of a number of small dishes that are shared as a meal.

18/11/2011

I just put these three chile vodkas together using chiles that I have smoked and dried myself.

From left to right we have: red chipotle vodka, jalapeno and habanero vodka, and green chipotle vodka. They might be used as Xmas presents or, just as likely, I might keep them until my birthday on New Year's Eve to use as spicy shots.

I only put them together a couple of minutes before these photos were taken and you can see that the vodka is already starting to take on the colour of the chiles.

03/11/2011

Sangrita is a spicy Mexican tomato and orange based drink that is traditionally served alongside tequila - the idea is to sip from each in turn rather than knocking it down as a shot. There are many different recipes for Sangrita - this is my attempt at creating a quick and easy recipe using ingredients that are readily available in UK supermarkets.

19/10/2011

This is one of the main courses I served up at a dinner party recently, along with Prawns in Creamy Guajillo sauce and Sea bass Veracruz style. I wanted to showcase contrasting flavours from the Mexican culinary repertoire and I think I managed.

The Diabolo sauce is fiery and garlicky and really packs a punch. One of my dinner guests said that the sauce was reminiscent of Vindaloo curry in terms of the spice and pungency of flavour.

I had some mini corn tortillas (4 inch diameter) left over in the fridge so I thought I'd have a go at using them as the basis of a quick lunch with other bits and bobs that I had lying around. The result was this tasty and moreish mini Quesadilla recipe.

18/10/2011

This weekend I made a variant of my Mexican Roulette nuts that was both dangerous and addictive. I made my own chipotle chilli powder and also sprinkled habaneros from my garden that had been dried into very pretty, but deadly, chilli warheads.